Peripheral Arterial Disease

The early stages of peripheral artery disease (PAD) don’t cause symptoms, but the underlying plaque keeps enlarging and blocking blood flow, leading to leg pain and serious complications. At Advanced Vascular Cardiac & Veins in Miami, Florida, Enrique Hernandez, MD, helps patients prevent PAD when possible. The practice provides expert care using in-office, ultrasound imaging, and advanced vascular techniques to treat complex PAD that other physicians may deem untreatable. Call the office or request an appointment online today to learn more.

What is peripheral artery disease (PAD)?

PAD occurs when cholesterol, triglycerides, and calcium collect on an artery wall. This condition, called atherosclerosis, progressively worsens. The fatty plaque enlarges, hardens, and becomes inflamed, restricting blood flow through the vessel.

Atherosclerosis can develop in any artery outside your brain and spinal cord, but it most often occurs in your legs.

Am I at risk of developing peripheral artery disease?

Your risk for PAD rises as you get older and if you have a family history of heart disease. Your chances also substantially increase if you have any of the following:

• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• High blood triglycerides
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Tobacco use
• Lack of exercise

Following a healthy lifestyle significantly lowers your risk for PAD. 

What are the symptoms and complications of peripheral artery disease?

As plaque increasingly restricts blood flow, all the tissues depending on the blocked artery become oxygen deprived. 

You may experience any of the following symptoms:

• Leg pain when walking that improves when resting (the earliest sign)
• Leg fatigue or weakness
• One foot colder than the other
• Poor hair growth on one leg
• Shiny skin on one leg
• Foot pain while resting (as the disease progresses)
• Arterial ulcers in the lower leg (advanced PAD)

Lack of oxygen eventually leads to tissue death and arterial ulcers. These painful, deep ulcers don’t heal without wound care, resulting in infection and gangrene. At this stage, you need expert limb salvage treatment to prevent amputation.

How is peripheral artery disease diagnosed?

Your Advanced Vascular Cardiac & Veins provider precisely identifies PAD with in-office ultrasound. In addition to showing details about the arterial structures, advanced ultrasound imaging reveals blood movement through the vessel and the severity of the blockage.

How is peripheral artery disease treated?

Advanced Vascular Cardiac & Veins focuses on assessing your risks and preventing PAD. After PAD develops, early treatment can slow disease progression. If you have moderate-to-severe PAD, your provider recommends minimally invasive procedures to remove the plaque and restore healthy circulation.

Your PAD treatment includes one or more of the following:

• Lifestyle modifications (following a healthy diet, exercising, stopping smoking)
• Medications (to prevent blood clots and treat underlying diseases)
• Angioplasty and stenting
• Atherectomy
• Peripheral vascular bypass
• Limb salvage and amputation prevention 

Call Advanced Vascular Cardiac & Veins or request an appointment online to get a PAD risk assessment today.